Barcelona defender wishes to ‘honour’ the final year on his contract, rejects summer departure | OneFootball

Barcelona have viewed the centre-back department to be a key position to enable a player departure for a while now.

After all, the club has four world-class defenders in Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen.

With the former duo poised as Hansi Flick’s preferred pair, the latter were seen to be the more saleable assets.

Of them, Andreas Christensen was particularly viewed as a top candidate to leave given his wages, poor fitness record and contractual situation.

A lack of suitable offers, however, restricted the Danish star’s sale for a long time, while it also remains a fact that the management continues to value him for his defensive presence and technical quality.

Christensen has made his decision

As relayed in a recent update by SPORT, Christensen has rejected all the interest from external clubs that he has received and has no intention of leaving the club this summer.

Andreas Christensen does not want to leave Barcelona. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

As such, his intention is to stay at Barcelona and honour his contract.

The former Chelsea star’s current deal with Barcelona ends in 2026, and his hefty wages of €12 million per season are part of why Barcelona hoped for a departure.

He missed most of last season due to a chronic tendon injury, but did prove his quality in his few appearances at the tail end of the season.

If fit, the Dane could well establish himself as a regular starter once more. At this point, however, he plans to see out the final year of his contract at the club irrespective of his prominence.

The player has been working hard in preseason to get back to his pre-injury level and even played 45 minutes in the team’s game against Vissel Kobe. His performance on the Asia tour, needless to say, will count for a lot in Flick’s plans.